No mention of Indira Canteens in budget

The second day of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) special council meeting on the budget continued on Thursday. Opposition leaders alleged the Palike has failed to show means of revenue generation to implement the budget for the financial year 2019-20.

Opposition leader Padmanabha Reddy said: “There is no mention of increasing the tax collection from mobile towers and underground Optical Fibre Cables (OFCs). Now, the civic body collects Rs 50,000 per tower from mobile service providers. By increasing the tax the Palike can generate the revenue to meet budget expenditure.”

“The BBMP has set aside Rs 5 crore to plant saplings. For counting the trees in the city the civic body has allocated Rs 2 crore. Why is counting trees so costly?” questioned Reddy.

Meanwhile, Congress Corporator, G Padmavathi expressed concern over not allotting any fund for the Indira Canteens in the BBMP budget.